Fed's Kocherlakota: Inflation data likely temporary

Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, speaks in St. Paul, Minnesota, Feb. 16, 2010.

A top Federal Reserve policymaker poured cold water on some positive recent economic data, saying on Tuesday he does not expect the "rapid" drop in U.S. unemployment to be sustained in coming months and calling firmer inflation "temporary."

Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Fed and a dovish voter on monetary policy this year, said he expects unemployment to fall just below 6 percent by year end, when he sees core inflation around 1.6 percent. The economic contraction in the first quarter means Americans will be "fortunate" to get 2.5 percent GDP growth this year, he added.